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This was a tough one really. I didn't think it would be too tough to complete, but it was. It made me wonder, how much harder is it going to get?

Well first off know that you did 3 compound lifts in one session. 2 is about the max I recommend at your level.

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How much more "****" is it going to take to get to a 550 lb squat? A 330 lb bench? A 600 lb deadlift?

Could take years. Once that base is built it's an entirely new game. Programming can rarely be random and effective anymore. Not saying yours was by any means. Just saying that as a beginner to intermediate, dedicated guys will gain on about anything.

There aren't many guys at an average meets that lift more than this at 242 and lower, AAS or not.

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And so on... How much patience and will am I going to have to exhibit to get a 225 lb strict press?

How much patience? All of it. You can't predict results from here. Even if you program the hell out of things, it might take 10 years to get to 600, 400, 650 raw at your weight. It might take 5. It might take 2. You may never get there.

You have to focus on what you can control. This is key. Training smart, looking at what other Elite lifters do, trying things wisely. Evolving training based on needs.

All you can do is focus on what you can control.

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how often will I wake up with crippling soreness as my weights get heavier and workouts more brutal?

You don't have to beat yourself up. I am never sore anymore. You need to train smart, not to kill yourself.

Until 6 weeks ago, I've never felt better in my life. And I was at my strongest.

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How hard is it going to be to truly be a strong man?

Easy. Brute is one. Compete now.

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A pro card?

To quote Paul Carter:

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Originally Posted by Paul Carter

So over the weekend I made a post on the LRB Facebook page, that had a few people up in arms.

Basically, I talked about understanding your limits. That we all have them, and in order to have a chance at moving past them, you need to know what they are.

Of course the young, dumb, and full of cum group shows up to tell me they are going to move mountains and drink the ocean dry through a twisty straw. It never fails. It's always the young unaccomplished assholes that believes they will be the next Jerry Rice before he's even made it off the bench in high school.

While contrary to that, all of the really great lifters and athletes I've ever known, were generally very low key guys that understood what their limitations were, or that getting to another level would be incredibly difficult.

The weekend I was in Iowa, I talked to Eric Lilliebridge about Konstantinov's junior deadlift record of 858. He told me a while back he wanted to break it, but he acknowledged he's running out of time and that it's going to be very tough to do. Especially in a full meet, where the pull tends to lose some steam near the end. Eric is a very humble guy, and while I know Eric has belief in himself that he has a chance to do this, he's very aware of how difficult that will end up being. He doesn't just bust off "oh yeah man, that'll be no problem, that shit is in the bag." He shakes his head and says "it'll be tough."

But this is why Eric is great. It's the same reason why guys like Dan Green are great. Dan's story about going to Russia is a great example of this. He was a 600-something squatter at the time, and after watching Pozdeev out squat him by 200 pounds, he realized what the issue was. He didn't have the quads to squat 800+.

Now if Dan wasn't the thinker that he is, and the "all balls no brains" type, he probably doesn't come to that realization. He probably just continues to do what he had been doing all the while not understanding what his limitations were. But Dan's a smart dude, and he changed his training in order to fix his limitations. And eventually, he was squatting over 800 pounds.

One coach messaged me over this post and said.......

"focus on starting before concentrating on being all-American. Even all the HS kids I train now- I think it's great if they have NFL aspirations, but I'm constantly working on getting them to be the best HS football player they can be before getting caught up in the other shit."

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How hard is that really going to be?

Very hard. Most people quit. It will be REALLY hard if you don't love what you do.

Relax, have fun, lift shit. Don't pressure yourself to be whatever, just go get strong - wisely. And compete. No excuses. Competition is a game changer. You'll know what you want and don't want once you compete more often.

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How long will that take?

Impossible to answer. Most never make it.

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How much am I willing to risk? Is it worth it?

You shouldn't risk anything until it's Superbowl-level time. Period, end of story.

Before that Elite level it should be fun and hard work, and one small goal at a time.

1, You must really learn to love the journey, not the goals.
2, If you dont allready have, find a group of likeminded people to train with and also to learn to kniw as friends. This is essential for progress and to have people to discuss and trade ecperiences with. Also the friendly competition that tends to rise in such groups are the best for pushing it that extra 10%.
3, Compete in strength sports. Whatever it may be, gripsport, powerlifting, strongman just go for it. Dont focus on beating everyone else, at first you probably wont, challenge yourself and kill it.

youth and desire used to be enough to do it all. Even then, i tended to specialize when I should have been training more generally.

Now, I need to start specializing so I can get the reward of being very good at something, but not hurt or overextend myself by trying to do it all.

Progress also S-L-O-W-S down significantly. Trying to fight it ends up wasting more time.

I went from linear progression last year and was adding 40-50 lbs per month...Now that I'm closer to my limits I'm doing less overall, I'm adding 10 lbs per month and only adding a few reps per month to big lifts then starting over (with new weights) every 4 weeks.

Should have done this months ago, but had to understand that, at age 39, the rules are starting to change.

the secret is this: For experienced lifters, it's not the workout that drives improvement, it's the recovery.

"No citizen has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training.... What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable."
-Socrates